


Grant & Ed

by PrincessTriSarahTops



Category: Captain America (Movies), Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: M/M, Reader Insert, coffee shop AU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-16
Updated: 2018-12-16
Packaged: 2019-09-19 23:28:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,023
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17011215
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PrincessTriSarahTops/pseuds/PrincessTriSarahTops
Summary: Reader has been working at a coffee shop for nearly a year and grows increasingly curious about two of her regulars “Grant” & “Ed” who always come to the cafe together. That is until one day “Grant” arrives alone.





	Grant & Ed

* * *

You hadn’t been working at the coffee shop very long. You leaned against the counter and did a rough calculation in your head. It had been about nine months. Though your tenure had not been as lengthy as most of your co-workers, you’d gotten good at your job quickly. You’d had to. People took their morning routines, and their coffee, very seriously. After about a month you’d gotten to know who the regulars were and their orders. You seemed to be generally liked among the customers and for the most part you liked them too. Eventually, your fake smile and cheery greetings came to be genuine acts of delight.

But there were two customers in particular that you always looked forward to seeing. One of them was a blonde with striking blue eyes. He always flashed you a warm smile when placing his order. The other seemed, at least to you, as his complete opposite. He had brown hair and brown eyes. Where the blonde generally looked put together at all times the other man had this air of always being slightly disheveled. His pockets seemed to be stuffed with old receipts, scraps of paper or loose dollar bills. Sometimes his tie was slightly askew or one of his suitjacket buttons would have gotten missed.

You’d come to know them as “Grant” (the blonde) and “Ed” (the brunette) though you’d always assumed those weren’t their real names. While they were always polite to you and your co-workers they preferred to keep to themselves. Generally, “Grant” would place the order, while “Ed” fumbled around his seemingly endless number of pockets looking for enough money to pay the tab. Their order was always the same too. A black coffee, a plain bagel with cream cheese, an iced Americano with whipped cream and three sugars and a blueberry muffin. After the coffees were poured and the pastries bagged the men would carry their order to a small table near the back of the shop.

They didn’t come in every day. Which to you was the most bizarre thing about them. They might frequent the place two or three times a day for an entire week and then two months might go by where you didn’t see them at all. Still, they always came back eventually. You couldn’t help but want to know more about them. Were they a couple? If so, how long had they been together? How did they make their conflicting personalities work together? Why did they disappear during seemingly random periods of time? You knew it would never be polite to ask, so you didn’t. That is until the day that “Grant” came into the coffee shop on his own.

“No, Ed today?” You couldn’t help but note as you already began ringing in the usual order of two coffees, a bagel and a muffin.

“No, uh not today.” He told you quietly. He seemed surprised that you noticed. “And just the black coffee for me.” He added.

“Oh?” You stopped what you were doing and looked up from the register to study him. He looked tired. His eyes weren’t shining like they usually did. Instead they looked red and irritated, like he’d been crying. His hair was sticking up as if he’d been running his hands through it. It wasn’t the way you were used to seeing him. The sight put you slightly off kilter.

“Coffee’s on me.” You said, clearing the order off the register without hesitation.

“No, please I wouldn’t want you to get in trouble…” He insisted uncomfortably.

“It’s the least I can do.” You told him firmly. “You’ve been very generous with your tips over the past few months.” (In fact they had tipped you $20 a day since you’d started working there. Not just you, but your co-workers as well. If they happened to be working when the couple came in.) You wouldn’t hear another word on the matter, turning away to pour his familiar order of a straight black coffee. You turned faced him again before sliding the Styrofoam cup across the counter. At the same time, you placed a hand over the top of the tip jar, preventing him from could slipping a crumpled bill inside.

“Coffee’s on me, remember?” You offered him a smile, and he just nodded in return. “Grant’s” mind was clearly on something else as he walked slowly to his usual table. You began to wonder once again what his relationship with “Ed” was. Had they been a couple? Had they had a fight? Were they breaking up?

There were no other customers in line after “Grant” So you decided to take advantage of the slow moment to bus and clean tables. You tried to turn your mind to other things. To focus on the cleaning and give “Grant” the space he probably needed. But even as you collected empty cups, and wiped table tops you’re eyes continued to drift over to the little table for two that was currently only occupied by one.

You saw “Grant” still sitting there, but now he was on the phone with someone. Could it be Ed? You tried to casually make your way to a nearby table so that you could overhear what he was saying. As you wiped your table down with a soapy rag, you strained to hear the conversation.

_“Tony, I’m glad you’re back on the compound. I don’t like the idea of you rattling around a mansion by yourself. We all need family. The Avengers are yours. Maybe more so than mine…”_

____

____

__“Avengers?” You repeated to yourself. No that couldn’t be right. You pretended to scrub a stain on the table that had been there longer than you and wasn’t going anywhere any time soon._ _

___“I’ve been on my own since I was 18. I never really fit in anywhere, even in the army. My faith’s in people, I guess. Individuals. And I’m happy to say that for the most part, they haven’t let me down. Which is why I can’t let them down either. Locks can be replaced, but maybe they shouldn’t. I know I hurt you Tony. I guess I thought by not telling you about your parents I was sparing you, but can see now that I was really sparing myself and I’m sorry. Hopefully one day you can understand. I wish we agreed on the Accords, I really do. I know you’re doing what you believe in, and that’s all any of us can do. That’s all any of us should…so no matter what. I promise you, if you need us, if you need me, I’ll be there.”___

_______ _ _ _

__

__

____

__Finally your curiosity got the better of you. You sighed knowing full well what curiosity did to cats, but you just had to know what was going on. It was probably going to lose you your job, but you stopped pretending to clean the table and tossed any empty cups in your possession before circling back to “Grant’s” table._ _

__“So, I wouldn’t normally do something like this.” You apologized, standing across from him. “But you and Ed always come in here together and I can’t help but notice the lack of bagel in your order or the fact that your usual dapper appearance is looking a little…” You paused trying to think of a polite word._ _

__“Unkept?” He chuckled. It was a sad chuckle, but he hadn’t asked you to leave him alone yet. So you continued on._ _

__“Yeah, I guess.” You nodded. “I just, wanted to make sure you’re okay. I’m sure that sounds crazy because I don’t actually know anything about you but…”_ _

__“No, no.” He interrupted you with a weak smile. “I think it’s kind, but I’ll be all right. Thank you.”_ _

__“Um, okay.” You bit your lip. You knew that you should return to your place behind the counter, you were supposed to be working after all, but something told you to sit down instead. An instinct you would later be glad you didn’t ignore._ _

__“I’m sorry.” You apologized again. “But I have a feeling this is probably the last time I’m going to see you, so I have to know, Grant’s not your real name, is it?” Again he laughed, but this one was lighter. It almost conveyed genuine humor._ _

__“No, it’s not, but it’s not exactly not my name.” He explained. “The fake names had been all Tony’s idea. He’d wanted us t have somewhere that we could go, just the two of us. I guess now that everything’s over this is to.” He said, looking around the café sadly. “I’m Steve. Steven Grant Rogers.”_ _

“You’re name’s Steve Rogers?” You asked in disbelief. 

_******** _

__

__

********

__“Yeah.” He nodded._ _

__“Hang on a second.” You pulled your phone out of your back pocket. You didn’t know why, but that name sounded familiar. You opened your internet browser and Googled ”Steve Rogers.” Hundreds of thousands of results came back, but you were most interested in the top result; a Wikipedia article. You tapped the Wikipedia link and anxiously waited for the page to load. The heading on the next page read:_ _

_**Steve Rogers (Captain America)**_

********

********

__“Huh.” You laughed. “I knew it was familiar. You have the same name as Captain America. I wonder if you look alike.” Your finger moved across the screen so you could scroll further down the article. There was a photo of Captain America in his full costume, but what caught your attention was the small section under the photo. Wikipedia had Steve listed as a “historical Figure” while the second row of information listed his full name._ _

_**Steven Grant Rogers.**_

********

********

__“No way.” You gasped looking up at Steve. “You’re…this is you?” You positioned the phone screen so that he could see the article you’d been reading._ _

__“That’s me.” He agreed._ _

__“And Ed?” You asked._ _

__“Anthony Edward Stark.” He supplied._ _

__“Oh.” You suddenly felt very stupid. You’d been serving Captain America and Iron Man coffee for the past nine months and never noticed. It was like being at the end of a Scooby-Doo cartoon. All it had taken to fool you was a set of slightly misleading names._ _

__“Ohhhhhh.” You repeated, this time dragging the word out. You began to recall everything you’d seen about the Avengers in the news and on Social Media. They’d essentially been forced to break up because of the Sokovian Accords. It was relatively common knowledge that while Tony Stark had been a driving force behind getting the Accords ratified, Steve had been adamantly against them._ _

__“I’m on my way out of the country.” Steve explained. “But I wanted to stop in one last time, since it was our place. You were right, you probably wont ever see me again.”_ _

__“Whoa. That sucks. For you, I mean.” You told him. “It’s awful that they’re trying to force you guys to sign something that basically gives the government total control over what you can and can’t do. Do you mind if I ask, I wont ever tell anyone else, but you and Tony…I sort of overheard your phone call. Were you…was he…”_ _

__“We never said as much out loud.” Steve admitted. “But yeah. For about five years.”_ _

__“Let me get you another coffee.” You offered, noticing his empty cup._ _

__“No, it’s alright.” He waved you off. “I’ve got to be getting on my way.” Steve slid his chair back and started to get up from the table. “But if you could do me a favor…”_ _

__“Anything.” You agreed immediately._ _

__“If he ever comes in, will you tell him…” Steve’s sentence trailed off. He couldn’t seem to get out what he wanted to say. So you nodded with understanding._ _

__“I’ll tell him.” You promised._ _

__“Thanks.” He offered you a mournful smirk. “Oh, and in case you ever need a favor of your own.” Steve reached for a napkin and quickly scrawled a ten-digit phone number down. He added the name “Grant” in the corner before handing the napkin to you. “It was nice talking with you, [Y/N].” With his smirk still front and center on his face Steve Rogers walked out of the coffee shop._ _


End file.
